As seen in FIG. 1, a conventional antenna module assembly, which is seen generally at 1, includes a circuit board 2, a base 3, and a cover 4. It is has been common practice in the art to mount, maintain, and seal the antenna module assembly 1 with a plurality of upper screws 5a and lower screws 5b. The upper screws 5a pass downward through the circuit board 2 and into the base 3, and lower screws 5b pass upward from the bottom of the base 3 into the cover 4. The screws 5a, 5b also function in grounding the circuit board 2 to the base 3 for capacitive coupling.
Although adequate for most applications, conventional antenna module assemblies 1 have inherent disadvantages. Firstly, the inclusion of the screws 5a, 5b increase cost, assembly labor and introduce inherent quality problems. Secondly, in some designs, metal screws 5a, 5b act as obstructions, which creates nulls in the gain pattern because the antenna located on the circuit board 2 may not be able to see through the head of each screw 5a, 5b extending above the plane of the circuit board 2. Thirdly, because screws 5a, 5b are applied in the design of the antenna module assembly 1, the perimeter of the module, which is seen generally at 6, is increased to accommodate the passage of the screws, particularly the lower screws 5b that pass upwardly into the cover 4. Aside from additional material called for in the design of the antenna module assembly 1 about the perimeter 6, the antenna module assembly 1 itself occupies a larger surface area of a surface it is mounted on, such as, for example, the roof of an automotive vehicle (not shown). From an aesthetic perspective, this particular design for an antenna module assembly 1 is undesirable for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) applications because it may negatively effect automotive roof design or trimming issues. Even further, because the antenna module assemblies 1 may be applied onto different roofs having different contours, the antenna module assemblies 1 may not be universally applied to all vehicles, which would otherwise result in a gap between the antenna module assembly 1 and the roof.
Accordingly, it is therefore desirable to provide an improved antenna module assembly that eliminates the use of applied fasteners to improve antenna performance while also decreasing assembly labor, component cost and quality problems. It is also desirable to provide an improved antenna module assembly that decreases the size of and materials used in manufacturing the module such that the module may be applied to a variety of vehicles, negating the concern of alternate roof design or trimming issues.